“If It Ain’t Broke, Break It” by Starwood

Solid rock and roll is what I found on this release pure and simple. I think it is great to find this to be the case every once in a while and seeing how rock and metal have so much against them these days it’s good to see a record like this come around. Oddly enough this one seems to be fronted by a member of a once very popular heavy metal act though none of the press releases seem to bring it up. The lead singer is named Lizzy and as I listened to him sing, I said “hey that’s Lizzy Borden!!.”. This was a band that had more of a cult following than legions and I liked several of their releases especially “Master Of Disguise”. With this new release, Lizzie is clearly taking a very different approach and while that can be risky to some I admit the end result is quite good. Instead of metal, this piece is more along the lines of the straight ahead rock and roll normally given to you by Hanoi Rocks or old L.A. Guns. It is quite the turn for someone who was so entrenched in the metal style.

Joining Lizzy on the release is Marten Andersson, Joey Scott and Joe Steals (Marten and Joey also are from Lizzy Borden). More than the change in format, one can simply view that Lizzie Borden ceased to exist as a band and Starwood was born at the same time.

There are a bunch of catchy numbers on the CD such as “Subculture” and “All My Girlfriends Have Boyfriends” (an anthem for all the fellows who have the ton of gal pals but no significant other). The tune “Social Zero” had some moments where I felt I was listening to the “Major Tom” song by Peter Schilling from the early 80’s. It was the effect used on the voice, as that’s all the song has in similarity. “You’re So Real” and “Bad Machine” round out my favorite tunes on this debut release.

This is clearly a high recommend from me, and if you are someone who enjoys the basic rock and roll feel as well as some ass kicking riffs you will dig this. It’s a lot of fun, and so many of the tunes are quickly able to be sung along to. That does not happen a lot so it cant be a bad thing. Let’s see if Lizzy made the right move by moving to a different genre of music. So far so good I am finding.